Steady Sun (not finalized)

Summary:
The Cullen's life after Breaking Dawn. My first attempt at fan fiction. Its not very far in, but I'm thinking about giving Rosalie and Emmett bigger storylines. Any ideas or suggestions would be very appreciated.

1. One.

The familiar, sweet notes of my lullaby drifted towards me. I smiled and left Reneesme sleeping in her bed, placing her hand back by her side. That was enough dream watching for a night.

Edward was waiting for me in the front room of our New Hampshire house. I crossed the room in the blink of an eye and sat next to him on the bench, resting my head on his shoulder. As the song wound down to its close, I closed my eyes and thought of the memories the lullaby carried. Lying on my bed in Forks, falling asleep in Edward’s arms. Our honeymoon on Isle Esme. An infinite amount of kisses. I added another to their number.

“What are you thinking about, love?” he asked. The thoughts of any other person on the planet were easily heard and dissected by his advanced mind. Everyone but me. Even when I was human, any vampire’s gift that affected the mind was rendered useless by my mind’s “shield”. Edward’s inability to read my mind had been a constant source of irritation for him, until a few friends helped me figure out a way to lift the shield for a few minutes.

I pulled in the barrier with almost no effort. It was becoming a lot easier. I recalled the memories for him, smiling at the reaction in his melted gold eyes. He pulled me to him and whispered, “Bella”, into my hair. “Please tell me our daughter is sleeping.”

“Like she hasn’t slept in days”, I laughed. “All the moving in is wearing her out.”

His lips met mine in a thrilling, electric kiss. “Good,” he sighed, and pulled me to him again.

“Good thing we don’t need sleep?” I joked. The next kiss had an urgent edge to it. Edward scooped me up in his arms and whisked me into our bedroom.

* * * * *

The next time either of us noticed the time, it was six in the morning. I sighed and prepared to get up.

“What, you aren’t excited for your first day at Dartmouth?” Edward chuckled. “Poor Alice. She’s already on her way to play dress up.”

“Alice will be Alice,” I groaned. “How much time do we have?”

“Enough time to get Reneesme dressed before Alice tries to stick her in some ridiculous frilly thing again.”

“Good to know.” I kissed him and tore myself away to start Reneesme’s day. Without sleep, mine had never ended.

“Mama!” Reneesme sang as I walked in. I lifted her feather light body and placed her on my hip. Although she was only a year old, she had the physical features of a four year old, and her mind was amazingly advanced. She pressed her hand against my cheek, showing me a picture of herself, alone with Carlisle and Esme. A question filled her thoughts.

I gave my daughter a squeeze. “Today Daddy and I are going to college. You know that’s why we moved, sweetie. You’re going to stay home with Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme and they’re going to home school you.” Her thoughts took a negative turn. “No, Nessie. Daddy and I will be back before it’s your dinner time.” A picture of Jacob and Reneesme in the kitchen filled her mind. “Of course. Jacob will come over to make it with you.”

Carlisle had decided it would be best to wean Reneesme off her diet of blood. The theory was that regular food would slow her growth slightly, and allow her a chance at a more human existence. Edward and I were all for it. The idea of a daughter who would reach maturity at age seven terrified us. However, Nessie was unhappy with the arrangement at first. That’s when Jacob decided to make it a game. He would do anything for her. She was his imprint. So every day, Jacob would come over and they’d watch a cooking show and make dinner for themselves. They had everything they could possibly need: Alice could always foresee the ingredient list and Edward passed on their preferences to Esme.

The arrangements for later would have to wait, because I heard Alice’s car snaking down our drive. I gave Reneesme a copy of her favorite book and went to greet my sister-in-law.

To my surprise, it was not a yellow Porsche parked outside. It was a red convertible, Rosalie’s car. “Hi, Bella,” she called. Her skin sparkled in the sun. I glanced down to see matching rainbows on my own. That was one part of vampire life it would be tough to adjust to. “Alice was having a tough time dressing the boys, and she didn’t foresee too much difficulty, so here I am.”

“Hey, Rose. Are our outfits really that bad?” I asked, thinking of the getups Alice had dreamed up before.

A mischievous grin spread across her perfect face. “No, actually. Very conservative for Alice. Em and Jazz are just getting a little revenge for all past first-day-of-school outfits.”

Edward answered my unspoken question. “I’m seeing the outfits she picks out in her head, then I call Em when she’s out of the room. Jasper and Emmett will change into the outfits exactly how Alice wants them-“

I quickly dressed and then looked over myself in the mirror. My long brown hair was the same length it had been since my rebirth- vampires didn’t change. My crimson eyes had faded, with a diet of animal blood, to liquid amber. The one feature that reminded me of my human days was my slightly uneven lips. Only when I looked at them could I see Isabella Swan, the average human, instead of the new Bella Cullen I was today.

I glimpsed Edward and Rosalie behind me in the mirror. “We’ll never blend in,” I whispered. Only a vampire could have heard it. “I remember seeing all of you together. It won’t work.” Seeing the five of them, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and Edward, for the first time, all unbearingly beautiful and completely alien, was a human experience I wasn’t likely to forget. The panic of discovery had worried me for weeks.

"Bella." The sound of my name in his velvet voice never failed to calm me. "Bella, love, its going to be fine. We're going to the family house this morning to review what you need to do."

I bit my lip and tried to relax. I turned around and went into Edward's arms. All the tension disappeared.

"Thank God," Rosalie said. "I thought we were going to have to call Jasper."

Actually, I wouldn't have minded a minute with Jasper. His ability to control emotions would have been a great help to me on this stressful morning.

My new cell phone rang in the other room. I sped to it, answering before the first ring was over. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Bella. Are you and Edward ready?" Esme asked. Trust Esme to call and check on us. She wasn't actually Edward's mother. Technically, he had been a vampire longer than she had. But her warm, mothering instincts kept the Cullens a family. I had begun to see her as more of a mother than mother in law.

"We're almost ready to leave, Esme."

"Oh good. I don't want you to be late on your first day at Dartmouth! Did you feed Nessie yet?"

"No, not yet." Esme had been experimenting with making human food. She hadn't done so in decades.

"Alright, then I'll just have to make something up for her." I could hear her excitement through the phone.

"Esme, please don't go to too much trouble." I laughed, knowing that any protest was probably useless. Once Esme's mother hen side came out, there was no stopping her.

I heard her bell like laugh over the phone. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Bye, Esme!" I slipped the phone into the book bag Alice picked out for me. "Edward, time to go."